Departmental Policy on Scholastic Offences

The Computer Science Department's position on scholastic offences is outlined to the students  in Scholastic Offences and in Course Outlines.

Current Policy on Penalties

• For a first offence in a course, the department's standard penalty is a mark of zero in the assignment  plus an additional penalty of the weight of the assignment subtracted from the student's final mark. The reasoning behind this is that cheating is worse than not handing in an assignment (and thereby getting 0 on the assignment).
• There are situations that could warrant a mark of zero in the assignment without the -100% penalty. These are cases where compassion is clearly indicated. However, these should be the exception rather than the norm, and must still be reported according to the Official Procedure below.
• For a second offence in the same course, the suggested penalty is an F in the course.

Official Procedure to be followed:

1. The  instructor should make a reasonable effort (email is sufficient) to contact and discuss the situation with the student.
   
2. If there is sufficient evidence that a scholastic offense occurred, the instructor  must inform the Undergrad Chair (using the form for Notification of Scholastic Offence) and suggest a penalty.
   
3. The Undergrad Chair will write a letter to the student, notifying the student of the allegation and summarizing the details of the offence. (This will normally happen within one week of the instructor notifying the Undergrad Chair.)
   
4. The student is given the opportunity of meeting with the Undergrad Chair to discuss the allegation.
   
5. If there is evidence of a scholastic offense, the Undergrad Chair will decide on the penalty to be imposed on the student, taking into account the penalty suggested by the instructor. (The penalties are decided by the Undergrad Chair in order to maintain consistency within the department.)
   
6. The Undergrad Chair will write a letter to the student, stating the decision on the penalty to be imposed. The  letter will draw the student's attention to the offence record policy and to relevant appeal procedures and deadlines.
   
7. A copy of this letter will be forwarded to the Associate Dean (Academic) of the student's Faculty, with copies also sent to the Instructor, the CSD Chair, and the Dean of the Faculty of Science.
   
8. If the instructor has not been notified of the penalty to be imposed by the time grades for the course are to be submitted, do not submit a mark for that student. (The registrar's office will record NGR (No Grade) for that student, until the grade is received later, after the penalty has been applied.)
   

Suggestions for Assignment Submission:

1. Use electronic submission of assignments and run software that detects similarities before marking.
   
2. Use  the Assignment Submission Form, that requires that a student declare that the assignment is his/her own work etc. and affix his/her signature.